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Thursday, 9 February 2012

DIY megastore has desires Emerald

THE battle for a slice of the $42 billion DIY pie nationwide may have nailed a new retail entrant to Emerald in Woolworths' Masters Home Improvement.

The megastore, part of a planned rollout of 150 stores across Australia by joint venture partners Woolworths Australia and the US hardware giant Lowes, would be the first outside the south-east corner in Queensland.

A delegated approval granted on December 19
for the 12,313sq m development will go before the Central Highlands Regional Council on Monday.

"I think it shows Woolworths as a company has a lot of confidence in the region," Mayor Peter Maguire said.

"It's not just about Emerald. It shows there is a lot of confidence out here and companies are prepared to invest significant amounts of money in a new model in Masters."

A Woolworths' spokesman said the company's immediate focus was on staffing and opening its Big W and new Woolworths at the soon-to-be-completed Central Highlands Marketplace in Emerald.